


the nuances of space and lemonades

by essiisse



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Artist Oikawa Tooru, Fluff, Humor, Kindergarten Teacher Sugawara Koushi, Lowercase, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:35:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28052547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/essiisse/pseuds/essiisse
Summary: tooru is an artist hired to paint a mural in a kindergarten and koushi is one of the teachers that works there.crushes and hilarity ensue.
Relationships: Oikawa Tooru/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 71





	the nuances of space and lemonades

**Author's Note:**

> i should be working on the daiya fic i posted the other day but i saw a prompt and oisuga is very powerful so this happened in one sitting. it's very dumb but cute too and i hope you'll enjoy it! :)

the cute artist the school commissioned to paint the outdoor mural is driving koushi crazy. every day, he shows up wearing some different kind of paint-stained overalls, dorky and nerdy t-shirts underneath them and, the cherry on top, the soft-looking brunette strands of his hair immaculately styled to the side.

he’s too pretty for his own good, damn it.

the area where he’s working was separated from the rest of the school with a long band in order to keep the children away from the drying paint – since god knows just how devious children’s hands can be. either way, the children approach the mural to watch him work all the same, marveled by the intricate work, and it’s endearing to watch the artist turn around and wave at them, a cheerful smile on his lips as he indulges them on their curiosity.

oikawa tooru is one cute weirdo with all of his alien earrings, minimalist tattoos and cuffed jeans with embroidered flowers and koushi just wants to kiss him already.

koushi keeps an eye on the children playing around joyfully in the playground while he silently and slyly peeks at oikawa’s working silhouette. the sun shines harshly over all of them, bright and blazing, and oikawa seems to have pushed the sleeves of his t-shirt up over his shoulders. several paint buckets stand open by his feet as he moves around, dipping brushes into the paint before climbing up the small ladder the school let him borrow to work on the small details of the almost finished piece. by the end of that day, koushi knows, it’s beyond probable that oikawa’s forearms and cheeks will be stained with paint – with the way he doesn’t pay attention and swipes the back of his hand over his face – and koushi looks forward to the adorable sight.

it’s almost done, the mural that is, and koushi is blown away by the sheer care that oikawa puts in every part of the painting, certain in the delicate flicks of his wrist as he paints a cosmic scene. the planets, stars and galaxies he paints have a childlike quality to them but are nonetheless breathless and koushi completely understands why the children feel so attracted to it. he himself does too.

he only takes his eyes away from the painting and the artist when michimiya, a fellow teacher, approaches him with a large tray and announces loudly that she has lemonade for everyone. the children gather around their legs, making grabby hands at the paper cups, happy to have something to refresh themselves with. koushi swiftly passes the cups for his overly excited students, all of them skipping away cheerfully after getting their respective lemonades.

michimiya hands him two cups after all the children were served, sipping on a cup of her own. “why don’t you go give that cup for oikawa-san over there?” she suggests cheekily, pointing at one of the cups. “he looks like he could use some refreshing.”

koushi studies michimiya’s shameless grin for a few seconds, her intent clear in the way she wiggles her eyebrows exaggeratedly at him. maybe his interest is clear in the way he gravitates towards oikawa since he started working there – the artist effortlessly pulling him in –, but michimiya is being ridiculous. koushi simply snorts at her, choosing not to comment, but still spins on his heels to leave, walking towards the mural where oikawa is working.

he steps over the band separating the mural from the playground, smiling kindly as oikawa instantly acknowledges his presence with a bright grin of his own. “it looks great.” koushi says.

“thank you, kou-chan.” oikawa replies, beaming wordlessly as he accepts the cup koushi offers him. they silently look at the mural for a while, admiring the artwork as they sip on the cold beverage.

“i still think adding some aliens would look cool.” oikawa points out, placing his cup over a small table where he keeps a bunch of brushes and jars of dirty water. koushi laughs, truly amused. ever since they begun talking during their breaks, oikawa insisted that the addition of aliens to the piece was essential and, paired up with his earrings and t-shirts, it was clear from day one how much of an enthusiast he really is.

“an ufo at least, come on.” he insists, crossing his arms over his chest. “i could put it in a hidden spot too, like some sort of subliminal message.”

koushi can’t help but laugh again, entertained by oikawa’s extraterrestrial musings. “it would be fine by me,” he says, “but i think the higher ups wouldn’t approve.”

oikawa clicks his tongue and shakes his head in disapproval, as if the mere idea of that is inconceivable to him. then, he pulls a dirty rag from his back pocket and starts to clean his paint-stained fingers with it, rubbing it firmly against the splotches of paint.

“say, kou-chan,” he begins, shoving the rag back inside his pocket after some obstinate blotches refuse to be cleaned, “i’m probably gonna finish this today, so i won’t be around anymore… would you like to grab coffee with me someday?”

oikawa is reaching for his lemonade over the table as he says that, all the while looking at koushi with a charming smile gracing his lips. before koushi can answer, though, oikawa sips on his lemonade and suddenly there’s water in koushi’s face, clinging to his lashes, dripping on his shirt and getting his bangs plastered on his forehead. oikawa is sputtering madly by his side, coughing and trying to get rid of every last drop of what, koushi now realizes, actually was water he was using to clean his brushes, instead of a good, cold lemonade.

“oh my god.” koushi says, standing still as he feels water running under his collar and down his chest. he snorts, chuckles and then he’s laughing loudly because _what a cute mess he is_. he throws his head back and lets the laughter run past his lips freely, taking pleasure in the way oikawa is looking at him in disbelief, tongue out of his mouth as he spits it all out.

koushi runs a hand over his face and pushes his wet hair back, laughter slowly subsiding until he’s lightly giggling. “oh my, that was the lamest way someone ever asked me out.”

“rude, koushi! rude!” oikawa protests, reaching for the right cup this time in order to wash the disgusting taste away. he gulps the lemonade down and pouts childishly at koushi. “here i am, busting my ass to ask you out and you’re making fun of me? i’m hurt, kou-chan.”

“you are so cute.” koushi says in a lieu of a proper reply. “did my good looks distract you that much that you couldn’t distinguish a paper cup from a jar of dirty water?”

“you got that right. you are _that_ pretty, koushi.” oikawa responds, a seemingly petulant expression on his face even when he’s complementing koushi. _goddamn it, he’s a keeper_ , koushi muses to himself. “so, are you up for that coffee or not?”

“i sure am.” koushi tells him, not an ounce of hesitation in his voice, an excited grin on his lips. “just don’t mistake it for dirty paint water again, ‘kay?”

“i’m never gonna hear the end of that, am i?”

“nope!” koushi looks around quickly before deeming it safe to place a chaste kiss on oikawa’s cheek, playful and sweet. “get used to it, buddy.”

**Author's Note:**

> the prompt i used for this was "your boss paid me to paint something on the walls. there are so many details, my hands hurt and i stand most of the day. you felt bad for me and gave me a coffee. as you came to see my work I decided to take a sip but i didn’t look at the cups. it was water i used to clean my brush and now it’s on your face" but i took some liberties with it.
> 
> i hope you enjoyed this mess ♡  
> i'm [here](https://twitter.com/singlecelledorg) on twitter if you want to become a mutual to a literal ghost lmao


End file.
